National open university of nigeria school of arts and social sciences
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- UTTERANCE PRESUPPOSITION
- Self-assessed Exercises
| 3.2.5 Presupposition A presupposition is background belief relating to an utterance. A presupposition must be mutually known or assumed by the speaker and the addressee for the utterance to be considered appropriate in the context in which it is uttered. A presupposition is generally based on implicit assumptions, which are arrived at through the process of inference. Presupposition is a common daily occurrence in language use. It is the 90 mechanism used implicitly to make assumption in day-to-day language. Let us look at some English utterances and the possible presuppositions they have. UTTERANCE PRESUPPOSITION Nobody in their right senses would talk that way 1. The utterance of someone is bad 2. Anyone who disagrees in the speaker’s opinion is not in his right senses I want to tell you more about poultry farming. 1. The addressee knows somethings about poultry farming 2. The speaker is more knowledgeable in poultry farming than the addressee I will arrange for some extra money for your expenses 1. Some money has already been arranged for the addressee’s expenses. 2. The money arranged was not sufficient. 3. The speaker has control over the money being spent. How close are you to Lagos 1. The addressee is close to Lagos. 2. The addressee is on his way to Lagos. Bola has lost her enthusiasm for the less privileged. 1. Bola used to have enthusiasm for the less-privileged. 2. Something made Bola to lose her enthusiasm I am making a lot of progress on the project. You need to come and see it. 1. The speaker has an ongoing project. 2. The addressee knows what the project is. 3. The progress the speaker is making is beyond the ordinary one. Self-assessed Exercises (i) Select any of Obasanjo’s speeches when he was the president of the nation and discuss the presuppositions in the speech. ii) Also discuss the use of deixis in the speech. Download 0.49 Mb. Share with your friends:
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